Just a quick "hello" from the Whisper. We are at sea today going from Siracusa, Sicily to Crete. We have had a wonderful trip, so far. We have done the bridge tour and the cooking demo/ wine pairing this morning; two loads of laundry; and then the line dancing lesson, wine tasting and putting competition are the activities for the afternoon.

Our flight to Rome went well and we landed a few minutes early just before 8 a.m. I did not sleep on the flight at all, but still spent the whole day seeing the sites -- Coluseum, Forum, Pantheon, Trevi fountain, etc. The second day we did the Scavi tour, the Vatican Museum and St. Peters Basilica. Walked and walked and walked. The morning of our cruise departure, we went to the National Museum of Rome (of whatever it's callled) and the churcht that used to be the Diocetian Baths. Then took the train to Civitavecchia. Nice for only $9 euros total!! woo hoo!

Boarded the ship at about 3:30. Everything has been wonderful on the ship, so far. Food excellent, service outstanding. There is a group of 80 from Hundyai (sp? the car) including the President of the company. We toured Pompeii and Hurculaem with a wonderful guide on Sunday. Yesterday we toured an ancient castle and went to a historic vintner, which included a wine tasting. Very nice.

It's been hot, hot, hot, but beautiful.

Can't think of anything else for now. Just wanted to say everything has been wonderful!

Thanks for checking in. Glad to hear you are enjoying your cruise on the Whisper. Looking forward to more reports and maybe pix, when you can.

Sounds like a perfect start to a wonderful trip. Enjoy!!

Hi Kim and Alice, I am glad to hear that you arrived safe and are off to a great start! Thanks for checking in and I hope to hear from you again soon.

Thanks for checking in, Kim! Sounds like you and Alice are having a wonderful time. I am quite impressed that you were able to see so many sites in Rome without getting any sleep on the plane, I know I couldn't do that!

Yes, we're having a wonderful time! Just finished the Venetian Society cocktail party. Waiting for about 20 minutes now before joining Nino, the Chief Engineer, at dinner.

Tomorrow, Crete, we will tour the Palace of Kinosis. I have been to the ports in Greece before, but Alice has not. So, I'm anxious for her to experience them. From what I remember 16 years ago, I think she will love the rest of the ports. We both had such a great time in Italy, and sharing those first time experiences together, was wonderful.

Probably not going to be able to post any photos. Sorry. We forgot the cable to download them.

Please keep checking in our sea mail has been quiet lately so nice to have someone "at sea".

KIM please keep posting - we love your info -

Good morning! Dinner last night with the Chief Engineer was very interesting. Although, he was not who we thought he was. Interestingly, he said his brother is Chief Engineer on the Navigator.

We have docked today in Agios Nikaloas in Crete. We will tour the Palace of Knossis. We convinced friends we have met who are South African and living in The Netherlands to join the tour as well.

Last night's show was a pickpocket! He was hilarious!

This evening is the Barbeque on the pool deck. We sail for Rhodes at 7pm.

Sounds like a wonderful cruise, Kim. Not too many days until I'm in the Mediterranean, also. I'll be on the Navigator, so I'm sure I'll run into your CE's brother!

Kim, sounds like you and alice are having a wonderful cruise. Thanks so much for posting.

Nancy

Kim, thanks for the silverseamail..glad to hear all is going well..have Alice and you tried
La Terraza this cruise? r/wes

Thanks for keeping us posted on your cruise, Kim. Sounds wonderful! Enjoy.

Thanks for posting, Kim. The cruise sounds great, and it seems You are taking advantage of both the ships and the ports.

I am glad you are enjoying both the food and service, too.

Hi All! Thanks for the nice replies. We just came into Rhodes. We are directly behind the Crystal Symphony, I believe. So, some possibility of a stalk!

Knossos was very crowded yesterday morning, but we had another wonderful guide who made the most of it for us. After a fantastic lunch on the ship, we explored a few shops (bought some olive oil made in Crete). Then took a dip in the sea! It was very refreshing. We are hoping maybe this afternoon to try to find a nice beach, after another fantastic lunch, I'm sure.

Wes, I was a little afraid to tell you that we cancelled our La Terrazza in order to dine with the Chief Engineer. But, we made up for it by recommending it to some of our new friends who are first time cruisers. They loved it, so we were pleased and happy for them. Our Caribbean cruise, we had that wonderful galley lunch. However, this cruise we had a pool deck Barbeque ---which was last night, so it made for one less night change to get into LT. Oh, well. It was windy last night, but a lot of fun. We were at a table of 6 (me and A, a couple from S Africa, one from England, and one Aussie couple. Lots of fun.) Our line dancing class had to perform!

Off to tour Lindos!

Heres the shot from Crystal Serenity.What a shame the cam is facing the wrong way.Looks like Galaxy is also there.

Oh, David, I knew you'd try to get the stalk! We were on the bus to Lindos and I thought, hey, David will get us! Well, ok, we just finished lunch and I logged on to post that we would try to be in view of the Serenity's webcam that is on the back of the ship at 5pm for us, 9am for Karen. We can see what we think is a camera from outside La Terrazza. But it appears that what we thought was a webcam isn't. They just have the port cam (which David shows) and a bow cam. Oh well. David, yes, the Celebrity ship is across the pier from Serenity. We'll have to wait for another time to get stalked, it seems!

Kim - I'm just catching up with your sea mail. It sounds wonderful! Waiting for the next installment .. Anne

Yes, we are having a great time! This morning, however, we arrrived in Tinos with winds at 45 knots (or something like that). They launched one tender, but it wasn't safe to stay. We are sailing to Mykonos and will arrived by 10:00 am. That's fine with us!

Great reports, Kim. Looking forward to the next one.

I think this might be Kim and Alice in Mykonos?

Thank you, Karen! Yes!! That is us! Thank you!! Alice will be thrilled that we got stalked!

OK. I typed a lot of stuff and then lost it. So, I'll try to check in and post again in the morning. But, just in case i don't get the chance, we are disembarking in Athens tomorrow at 8:30. We are being picked-up by Ngaire's Greek taxi drive, Stelios. We get back to Boston Monday afternoon and I'll post again then at the latest!

We've had a fantastic cruise!!

Hi All!

We are all packed up, just finished our last breakfast on the ship. The entire week has been spectacular!

Well, we were walking to breakfast and I happened to glance out a window towards our starboard side and something familiar looking caught my eye. I went out on deck and there, nose-to-nose with us (ok, bow-to-bow) is the Navigator! We are almost perpendicular to her.

It looks like a beatiful day in Athens. Almost time to go find Stelios and be wisked away. Two days in Athens awaits us.

Wow, Kim, hard to believe your cruise is over. Thanks for the great seamail. Enjoy your stay in Athens.

Yes, it IS hard to believe your cruise is over, Kim - but 2 days in Athens to look forward to makes getting off the ship "not so bad". We're doing the same thing this October when we disembark in Athens. We're in love with that city!!!

Safe travels home, and thanks so much for your seamail! We've really enjoyed it.

Athens was wonderful! We saw all the sites accessable with the 12 euro ticket in two days! Plus the national archeology
Museum. We're in the alitalia lounge waiting for our flight to rome . Then a 4 hour layover. Oh, the King George hotel was really cool and a great locAtion right next to the GB.

Kim, Your trip sounds wonderful. We are booked from Athens next year stopping in Crete. Been to the Greek Isles but not Crete. I was looking at the King George Hotel on line. Looks nice with a great location. Glad to hear you were satisified.

Kim,
Have enjoyed your posts. So glad to hear it turned out to be such a wonderful cruise for you and Alice. Hope you trip home was uneventful.

Hi! Thanks, Susan! Yes, the trip home went very smoothly. We landed in Boston at about 3pm. I am almost packed for my 6:00 a.m. flight to D.C. tomorrow!

JohnandJudy, The King George hotel was very nice. We used credit card points for the two night stay. I forgot to mention that our stay at the Hilton Cavalieri in room was extremely nice, too. And, again, used points to stay there (Hilton points). So, we were very fortunate to be able to have such nice pre and post cruise hotels. It was great!

Kristin, you should have very nice weather in October. It was hot, but we managed fine. Although a lot of people complained. Not sure what they expected! I hope your cruise is a wonderful as ours was!

Beth, have a great cruise, too!!

Kim - I'm so glad your trip went well. The tip on the King George and Hilton Cavalieri hotels is appreciated.

Cheers, Anne

Kim, super news to hear Alice and your cruise, pre/post was so good..but your "tude" made the difference....will ask Susan to be on look out for a cruise late 2009/2010 for John/Susan, Ida/I, Alice and you...hooah, r/wes